Media Release from Singapore Civil Activists
A timeline dossier on the death of Dinesh Raman s/o Chinnaiah was released today. Compiled from state press releases, media reports, and family interviews, the dossier traces the events following Dinesh’s death on 27 September 2010.
The twenty-one year old, jailed for theft and rioting in 2007, died after a scuffle with eight prison officers following what the state described as a fierce struggle lasting thirty minutes.
In July, Deputy Superintendent Lim Kwo Yin was convicted of Negligence not Amounting to Culpable Homicide and fined S$10,000. The remaining seven officers faced internal disciplinary proceedings which have not been made public.
The Ministry of Home Affairs also conducted a Committee of Inquiry to audit prison systems but has refused to disclose its findings.
The State Coroner has since discontinued his inquiry claiming that, as the criminal proceedings established the circumstances of the death, his own inquiry was redundant.
The Attorney General has refused to reopen the inquiry. The family has now applied to the High Court for the inquiry to be reopened for forensic findings on how, when and where Dinesh came by his death.
The family’s application contends: “All that was presented to Court was a short agreed statement of facts which were agreed by the Prosecution and [the officer charged]. There was therefore nothing for the District Judge to make a finding on.”
Rachel Zeng, spokesperson for the activists who have emerged to campaign for the reopening of the inquiry said, “Our dossier reflects the fact that detailed information on [his] death has not been made available. A Coroner’s Inquiry is therefore the proper forum to inquire into the specific circumstances that led to Dinesh’ death.”
The High Court will hear the family’s application on 16 October.
The dossier in full can be accessed at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/172667428/Dinesh-Raman-Timeline
For further information, please email Justice for Dinesh Campaign at: [email protected]
A petition has also been created to appeal for the re-opening of the Coroner’s Inquiry. To sign on the peition visit http://www.change.org/petitions/coroner-s-inquiry-for-dinesh-raman
